“Listen to me, Mr Aggarwal,” Kade said. “This is my life’s work. And I’ve done enough. A million people have Nexus in their minds, and more every day. I’ve succeeded.” He clenched his still-functional left hand into a raised fist of triumph. “You can kill me. You can sell me to the ERD. I’ll die happy. If you want me to work with you? I’ll be even happier. But you have to demonstrate your principles.”

And you’re going to help me stop this war, Kade thought, his chest pounding again. You’re going to help me show the world that humans and posthumans can be good to one another.

Damn it, you are.

Aggarwal just turned and walked away. As he pulled open the door, Kade spoke to the Special Secretary’s back.

“Give her my conditions exactly, Mr Aggarwal. And my reasons. Don’t edit them.”

“Her?” Aggarwal said, his back still to Kade, the door open to the ante-room with the guards.

“The Prime Minister,” Kade said. “We both know she’s the one who’s going to make this decision.”

Lakshmi Dabir waited in the room after Rakesh Aggarwal stormed out.

She didn’t look happy.

“Why the last condition, really? The UN motion is doomed to fail. You hinge your freedom, your life, on something that will go nowhere?”

Kade closed his eyes, exhaled through his nose.

He was so tired. So very damn tired.

“Do you know game theory, Ms Dabir? Prisoner’s Dilemma and games like that?”

“It’s Dr Dabir,” she replied. “And yes, of course.”

Kade opened his eyes. “Sorry.”

She held his gaze. “Continue.”

“Posthumans are coming,” he said. “Copenhagen hasn’t stopped the research, it’s just hidden it. Too many people want the benefits – armies, governments, individuals, sick people. What you’re doing here with Nexus is part of that. It’s just a matter of time until post-humans are among us, if they’re not already. You agree?”

She looked into his eyes, impassive. “Let’s say I do.”

Kade nodded. “Back to game theory. In ordinary Prisoner’s Dilemma, if the other player trusts you, and you betray them – you defect – you can win big. The best strategy for a single round of Prisoner’s Dilemma is to defect.”

“A fact real-world police have taken advantage of with real-world prisoners for some time,” Dabir commented.

Kade swallowed. That cut a bit too close to home. He pushed on. “In Iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma, it’s different.”

Dabir raised an eyebrow. “Iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma,” she mused. “Multiple rounds. More than two players.”

Kade nodded. “Potentially thousands of players. Or millions. Players who can meet each other again and again. And who can remember how the other player has behaved before.”

“Like real life,” Dabir said.